‘Hello mum, this is going to be hard for you to read …’ [At 19, Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher was one of the youngest victims of the Afghan war]

Cyrus Thatcher was killed on 2 June 2009. This is the letter he wrote to be delivered to his family if he died…At 19, Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher was one of the youngest victims of the Afghan war. These letters – given to The Independent by his family – reveal the excitement of a teenager sent to fulfil his dream, and his maturity in confronting the possibility that he might not make it home